CentrePort Canada attracts 300 businesses to Capital Region: Edmundson

Canada’s first inland trade port – CentrePort Canada – has attracted about 300 new business developments to the Capital Region on the 20,000 acres that comprise North America’s largest trade and transportation hub.

Slightly larger than the footprint of Manhattan, the Port has spun off close to $1.5 billion in development investment since it opened for business in 2009, CentrePort President Carly Edmundson told the MHCA Board of Directors, at its January 24 meeting.

The evident geographical advantages are:

• sitting as a hub at the nexus of the TransCanada and Highway 75
• links to international ports at Emerson and Churchill
• direct access to 3 Class 1 railways and the 24/7 Richardson International Airport
• adjacent to headquarters of leading freight transportation companies.

Edmundson noted that the relationship with the RM of Rosser, where a swath of CentrePort’s footprint sits, has attracted investment and development because of the special planning area, with a dedicated planner, that was established, to speed up the permitting process.

Turnaround time for a building permit is two to four weeks; 3-6 months for full sub-division and rezoning, she said.

She was asked whether a similar dedicated planning area would assist in the development on the CentrePort South lands, which are within the City of Winnipeg. The City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba have committed to funding for the servicing of water and waste infrastructure on those lands, allowing for the development to begin.

Edmundson said discussions on this issue have begun, and interest at City Hall is real.

Detailed design on CentrePort South are expected within weeks, while heavy civil construction work should begin before the end of the year, with ground breaking for residential development in 2026.

Fully built out, CentrePort’s return to the GDP will include:

• more than $400 million in building permits
• 3 million+ square feet under construction
• 100,000 person years of employment
• $8 billion boost to Manitoba’s GDP
• $1.18 billion in provincial tax revenue
• $179 million in tax revenue to the City of Winnipeg

“This is a testament to (the saying) ‘if you build it, they will come’,” Edmundson said.

“We (Manitoba) were built to be this transportation mecca,” she said, recalling how Manitoba was regarded as the gateway of settlement and trade to the West.

“We are reclaiming that now.”